Glance in his mirror caused lapse

A glance in his rear view mirror caused a motorist to have a lapse of concentration and he collided with a car in front of him.

Igoris Novikovas (54), whose address was given as Ballygroobany Road, Richhill, was fined £175 last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court for driving without due care and attention on October 23 last year.

He was also given four points and ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy.

The court heard that a three vehicle collision occurred on the Armagh Road, Portadown.

There was damage to the front of the defendant’s vehicle and to the rear of the other two cars involved.

Novikovas had collided with the rear of a car and pushed it into the back of the other vehicle.

When interviewed he admitted causing the collision saying that he had glanced into his rear view mirror and when he looked up he collided with the vehicle in front.

A solicitor representing the defendant said the vehicles in front of him had stopped and his look in the mirror caused him to collide with the car ahead of him. His vehicle bore the brunt of the collision.

He added that it was a low level impact in the terms of speed.

The solicitor pointed out that his client had a previous conviction for careless driving and had seven points on his licence which expire in November this year.

He added that the defendant had been driving since 1985 with no other incident and needed his car for work and to take his partner to hospital appointments.

District Judge, Mr Mervyn Bates, said there had been a momentary lapse of judgement by the defendant.